MSN recently carried the gripping story of how Elizabeth Finch, a Greeley Colorado police detective, spent last year fighting for her life due to complications from an autoimmune disease called immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).
The disease causes the immune system to destroy platelets which are normally relied upon to control blood clotting.
Finch is open and honest about her battle with ITP, as she hopes to inspire others not to ever give up. She used her desire to return to her children and a job she loves in the Crimes Against Children Unit as her motivation.
This Was Only the Beginning
In 2016 Finch was diagnosed with autoimmune disease of the liver which was low grade and presumably kept under control. Until it wasn’t.
In September 2021 Finch developed a number of strange purple spots on her body. Her husband, also a sergeant on the same police force, agreed with Finch that the spots were no doubt from the previous day’s training activities.
Then Finch developed a nosebleed. This had never happened before. She felt it was time to get to the E.R. Finch was immediately admitted to the hospital where the doctors gave her the usual options to treat the disease: platelet transfusions, intravenous immunoglobulin, and steroids. Nothing worked.
Then less than a week later, on September 18th, she developed internal bleeding, vomiting, and headaches resulting from a brain bleed that was caused by the abnormal level of platelets.
Finch acknowledged that she was rather naïve about her condition and expected to be home from the hospital in two or three days. Instead, she was transferred to UC Health Anschutz where she encountered another, more severe, complication. Her lungs had partially collapsed as a result of the internal bleeding.
She stopped breathing. Her doctors performed emergency surgery that saved her life.
Almost immediately after the emergency surgery, the doctors performed a spleen embolization cutting off between fifty to seventy percent of the blood flow.
In healthy individuals, the immune system targets platelets for destruction as they go to the spleen. The embolization prevents platelets from being destroyed. As aforesaid, in Finch’s case, the stoppage amounted to between fifty and seventy percent of her blood flow with her spleen functioning at a level of three percent.
The operation was a success, but it caused Finch’s platelet levels to spike. This puts the patient at risk of blood clots. A ventilator was required for the next three weeks. She remained in the ICU, where her doctors removed excessive platelets caused by the embolization. The sedation was gradually reduced during her second week in intensive care.
Finch was quite emotional when she described her three-week struggle during the time she was required to use the ventilator. She kept telling herself to breathe! breathe! She also remembers telling herself that she must survive and go back to her three children.
She would not give up and she encourages others not to give up.
Finch returned home from rehab on November 12th.
And Now the Future
While she was recovering, Finch asked herself what would their future be like. After the operation, she was unable to sit, stand or walk.
She wondered if she would ever return to her job and if could she take proper care of her children. Finch wants to be involved with her children’s sports and return to those activities. She also has a twenty-two-year career in law enforcement that means a lot to her.
She was a good patient exceeding her therapist’s expectations. One thing that helped tremendously was envisioning her children at the end of the hall during her therapy sessions. She pushed herself over and above what was expected of her.
After she returned home, she remembers how wonderful it felt just to be able to take her children to the park.
The Near Death Experience Was a Game Changer
Finch calls it a blessing. She is thankful for every new day and at the end of each day asks herself what she is grateful for on that day.
Finch returned to active duty on December 28, happy to be back with the Greeley Police Department – and especially on her own two feet.
